Lady Gaga’s ‘Born’ tops 1 million in sales

Amazon 99 cent promotion fuels nearly half of album sales

Lady Gaga made the splash she (and Interscope) sought last week, as the flamboyant singer’s “Born This Way” burst onto the U.S. album chart with sales of more than 1 million copies. The sales coup was partly due to two days of 99¢ promo sales on Amazon, which moved an estimated 440,000 digital copies.

It’s only the 17th album to top a million in 20 years of SoundScan tracking.Gaga’s release made its expected entry at No. 1 with a 1.10 million unit total, according to Nielsen SoundScan data for the week ending Sunday. Last album to surpass set’s first-week level was 50 Cent’s “The Massacre,” which shifted 1.14 million in 2005. Taylor Swift’s “Speak Now” bowed with 1.04 million last year.

“Born This Way” hit the market a day early with a Monday release date, and every imaginable alternative retail outlet was assaulted in quest for blockbuster sales. But the Amazon promotion accounted for nearly half of all sales at the deeply discounted rate, a tactic which also fueled sales of Arcade Fire’s “The Suburbs.”

Week’s runner-up title, country star Brad Paisley’s “This Is Country Music” (Arista Nashville), made a comparatively quiet bow at No. 2 with first-week sales of 153,000 units. Collection matched Paisley’s album chart peak, previously set by 2009 and 2005 titles.

Adele’s still-potent “21” (Columbia) dropped two positions to No. 3, but continued its healthy sales clip with a 126,000-unit week (off just 8%). Album should top the 2 million mark in the coming week.